2019 was a rough final year to an even rougher decade that saw a rise in cancel culture, fake news, political divisiveness, SJW authoritarianism, woke entertainment media, and tech monopolies turning society into a censorious, nightmare dystopia.

Now that we've started a new decade for the 2020's, let's forget about the bad and reflect on the things that brought us joy in 2019. No theme or categories; it can be movies, tv shows, anime, games. Just has to be from 2019.

Here's some stuff I loved that I didn't get a chance to discuss last year.

Carnival Row

This Amazon series takes place in a dark fantasy, Steampunk world. Fantasy creatures, called the "Critch" by humans, escaped their war-torn homeland to live in a human city. As the immigrant population grows, so does the racism and resentment by humans towards the Critch.

There's a mystery with the main character Philo; a war vet and detective investigating a series of murders by some sort of monster. Philo has a very tragic story of unresolved love with Vignette, a fairy he knew from the war, who recently escaped to the same city.

There's political intrigue, Lovecraftian horror, a spicy sublot involving a wealthy puck moving into a human neighborhood, and if that doesn't sell it for you, there's lots of fairy-on-human sex and fairy titties.

Hazbin Hotel

The characters all had creative designs, the songs were catchy, and the 2D animation was impressive for an indie team. Charlie and Alastor were my favorite characters; they contrast each other well. I love how optimistic and adorable Charlie is, and I love Alastor's devilish charm and vintage radio announcer voice.

Favorite moment was "How does it feel that I got your pen huh?....BITCH!" Just the way a sweet character like Charlie says a curse word cracked me up.

Hazbin has a growing hatedom because lots of people are annoyed with how popular it got. Personally, it's always refreshing to see more adult animation that looks cute, and colorful like this.

Hope they manage to get a full Season and continue the story past the first episode. Although if they get picked up, the creator and her team must have full creative control. I don't want their creative vision censored or a bunch of executives with check-boxes stripping it of it's unique style.

It's pretty much a Disney princess musical crossed with Invader Zim. Speaking of...

Invader Zim: Into the Florpus

Funniest movie I saw all year. The animation was as manic and as energetic as when it first aired. It was silly and cynical, but it had surprisingly heartwarming moments between Dib and his family. Professor Membrane practically steals the movie.

Favorite moments were the anime style intro, "My name is Dib. I'm 12 years old!" and that whole stupid, drawn out joke where Zim can't hear Dib from so far away, "You'll never get away with this!" "WHAT?!?" "You'll never get away wi-" "WHAT?!?"

I felt it was a better finale than Samurai Jack or Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, because it didn't rush the story or rely on nostalgia and constant callbacks to wrap everything up.

If Invader Zim never gets another season, this movie was a satisfying finale.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

I consider Breaking Bad one of the greatest tv shows of all time. This movie serves as an epilogue for one of the main characters and takes place mere seconds after the show's ending. It's almost like extra DLC for the story.

The creator returns as the director and writer. He does such a great job with the suspense and composition of scenery, you almost forget some of these actors got a little older and fatter, despite the story's timeline. LOL

Was this movie necessary? Not really. Did I love seeing these characters again and the world of Breaking Bad revisited by the creator? "You're goddamn right."

I dare not spoil anything. Definitely, you should watch the show first before El Camino to fully appreciate it as a swan song. Both are on Netflix.

Resident Evil 2 Remake

My best friend insisted on me playing the remake for RE2. I'm not as big a fan of RE as he is, but I really liked the mix of survival horror and 3rd person shooter action from RE4; the first RE game I've ever played and one of my favorite games.

A lot of modern games hold your hand, but RE2 wants you to explore and scavenge around before you can progress. It was always a good feeling whenever I figured out a solution to a puzzle. The scariest thing in RE2 was the zombies. Lickers and monsters I could handle, but the zombies made me anxious. Mr. X was pretty tense too whenever you hear his music and footsteps, but have no idea where he'll come from.

RE2 has a lot of replay value with some of the differences in Leon and Claire's plathroughs; plus they added free DLC. I've finished both once and look forward to replaying both again to get the true ending.

Joker


Entertainment has gotten too safe, stale, and PC. Joker was a welcome shock to the system.

Joaquin Phoenix was amazing as Arthur Fleck. You can see the pain and sorrow on his face when he laughs. He was disturbing but also tragic; like a Joker version of Pagliacci. While very different from so many other Jokers, the story stays true to the spirit and lore of the character.

This is an intelligent movie that wants audiences to think for themselves and interpret subtext. To be exposed to a different perspective with a darker story. To discuss uncomfortable topics of mental health and how society creates criminals like Arthur.

Critics and journalists find these ideas dangerous, so they wanted it censored. They were even cheering and foaming at the mouth for something bad to happen; for people to die after the movie released to be validated. It was disgusting.

Judging this film by it's own merit doesn't sell clickbait. You know what does? "Joker" is alt right, incel propaganda and it celebrates mass shootings, misogyny, eating disorders, Trump, and pedo glam rock stars!

But we should thank them for giving the movie so much free press and making it the first R-rated film to make a billion dollars, without China's box office.

The Boys

Based on the comic series of the same name, this Amazon Prime series is about a world where Superheroes are the biggest assholes celebs in the world. They cause tons of collateral damage, but they get good publicity by a mega corporation with zero value for human life.

What I especially liked about this show is how all the characters were flawed. You root for the protagonists Hughie Campbell and Billy Butcher, but even they do morally questionable things. The superheroes are hateable antagonists, but the more you learn about some of them, the more sympathy you feel.

I always complain about how Marvel films feel too clean and safe. They don't have to get violent on the level of Deadpool, but the stakes never feel high. The Boys is a show where you get to see the real consequences of people with super powers. For example, if a speedster runs through you, you end up as nothing but a puddle of blood and bones. One of the main villains is Homelander, whose like Superman mixed with Captain America. Every scene with him is tense, because you the show is able to show how brutal his powers are; especially his laser vision.

Excellent series. Looking forward to Season 2.

DC Super Hero Girls

The complete opposite of a superhero shows like The Boys. Take the DC Universe, Powerpuff Girls, and MLP: Friendship is Magic and put it all in a blender. It helps an industry veteran like Lauren Faust developed the show.

I'll go more in-depth for a later journal, but I felt this show was what She-Ra and the PPG reboots should have been. The fluid animation and character writing makes those reboots look even worse.

The first Season of DCSHG is on Netflix if you want to give it a watch. Best cartoon of 2019.

Conclusion

Those were some of my personal favorites. What stuff did you love from 2019?